Nursing at 7 months

A lot has changed. She's bigger. She's curious. She's still going strong.

8:45/9:00 am : first feeding. She has usually been awake for around 30 minutes before she eats. She gets a new diaper, plays, and then I feed her. I love watching her get ready. When I grab the boppy and situate my shirt, she squirms and grunts and basically salivates from the mouth. THEN she pulls herself to me to latch. She's usually trying to grab my coffee cup, touching my face or trying to look at the fan or TV. She finished after about 12 minutes and always looks at her hands. She twirls them in the air and then points her pointer finger. Then she usually grunts at me for a little while and we just sit and talk. When she's finished, she does NOT want to just lay there. She wants to sit up and play. If she's going to spit up, it's probably after this feeding.

(10:15-fruit. 10:30- nap)

1:00 pm: second feeding. It's also gotten much shorter lasting 10-12 minutes. A lot of days she's "ready" for this one. She sometimes starts to get fussy and latches on really quick. If my hair is down, she tries to play with it or she wraps her hands in my shirt. It's so precious. She also still sometimes squeezes me or holds on like its a bottle.

(3:00 - vegetable. 3:30- nap)

5:00 pm: third feeding. If she falls asleep during a feeding it's this one. Her afternoon naps don't go well sometimes, so she's exhausted. Most nights this one is less than 10 minutes (unless she falls asleep).

(6:30 - dinner with fruit and veggie, and cereal. She also sometimes gets meats or breads.)

8:30/9:00 pm: fourth feeding. This is bedtime and right after bath. She knows the bed time routine. After we listen to daddy read a book, she latches and instantly closes her eyes to drink. Some nights are restless and she doesn't like laying on the left side, but the second she moves to the right side, she's out. She does a lot of rubbing during this feeding, and she's so still. I try and keep her latched on for 30 minutes to know that she's eating enough to last the night, but some times she just can't stay awake. She always ends this feeding on the right side and then I pick her up to hold her over my left should. Every night she nestles into my neck and snuggles for just a brief moment. I always kiss her sweaty head a million times and then lay her down.

The past month has included TWO night time feedings. They're short and on one side. She's always screaming by the time I get in there so it really is precious to see how quickly she calms down just from nursing, but mama is tired. She was sleeping through the night. I'll just cherish the snuggles because I've already learned that time passes way too quickly.

A lot of times I wish that she would take a bottle. There are several instances where life would be much easier! BUT I prayed and prayed before she was born that nursing would go well, and the Lord has provided. She loves it so much that it's all she wants. ;) Sometime she's going to have to take a bottle before bed so that mom and dad can go and do something!

Providing for her in this way is one of my proudest accomplishments. Nursing isn't always easy, but I have been blessed with an amazing experience so far. I'm so sad because very soon my prayers will be changing to an easy transition to real milk and weaning off of nursing. Don't blink, because when you open your eyes 7 months have passed!